Copying to be Different: Violent Dissident Irish Republican Learning

While the impact of the Troubles retains centrality within much of Northern Irish political life, the spectre of almost daily violence is becoming a more distant memory. Peace has come to the region. In spite of this, however, there are those who wish to maintain the utility of violence to achieve their stated aims. Most dominant amongst these are the violent dissident republican groups. No longer is their existence solely defined by their desire to bring about a united Ireland. In order to have any opportunity of longevity, they must first legitimise their continued existence, and in turn distance themselves from their former Provisional comrades. This paper assesses how groups, such as the Continuity IRA, Óglaigh na hÉireann and the IRA/New IRA utilise the lessons learned from their Provisional history to differentiate themselves from the politicised dominance of Sinn Féin. This evaluation is carried out through the analysis of interviews with leadership and rank and file members of both political and paramilitary dissident groupings, which is complimented by the analysis of the Violent Dissident Republican (VDR) events database. These sources are supplemented with the assessment of organisational statements, from 2007 to the present day. The article focuses on violent, and non-violent, learning.

Peat Bog Ecosystems: Peatland Restoration

Peatland restoration involves giving aid to a complex ecosystem which has been damaged in some way. A reasonable analogy is a patient brought to a hospital for urgent treatment. When arriving at Accident & Emergency , the first priority of the medical team is to stabilise the patient’s condition. Only after the patient’s condition has been assessed and then stabilised can the team begin to think about the longer - term process of healing and recovery. A similar logic is applied to peatland s . First , stabilisation is required to prevent further degradation, following which restoration can focus on the recovery of the ecosystem.

Peat Bog Ecosystems: Tracks across peatlands

Tracks have been made across peatlands for as long as human society has existed. Un - made tracks (i.e. those created simply by regular use, with no construction involved) were probably first created by grazing animals and then presumably also used by early human communities. F ind ing these increasingly impassable with regular use , human societies began to construct ' corduroy roads ' during Neolithic, Bronze and Iron Age times. These first constructed tracks were made from cut timbers ( below ) . Across Europe, ma ny examples of these corduroy roads have been found preserved in lowland bogs, perhaps most famously in the Somerset Levels and more recently at Hatfield Moors on the Humberhead Levels.

Peat Bog Ecosystems: Atmospheric pollution

Peatlands can be damaged by deposition of pollutants from the atmosphere – often termed ‘ acid rain ’ . This results from the release of sulphur and nitrogen pollutants into the atmosphere . Originally associated with the Industrial Revolution, ‘acid rain’ was first described by Robert Angus Smith, a Manchester chemist of the 1800s , whose obser vations were made in close proximity to the peatlands of the South Pennines. Sulphur dioxide (SO 2 ) pollution, which is mainly emitted from coal burning power stations, peaked in the 1970s and has since decreased by over 90% due to emission controls and ch anges in energy supply. N itrogen ous air pollutants have decreased less . N itrogen oxide (NO x ) emissions , which are mainly from vehicle s , have decreased by two thirds since their peak in 1990 , but the decrease in ammonia ( NH 3 ) emissions , which are mainly from intensive livestock farming, is much less certain and may be only about 20%.

Cross-sectoral differences in the drivers of innovation: evidence from the Irish Community Innovation Survey

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyse differences in the drivers of firm innovation performance across sectors. The literature often makes the assumption that firms in different sectors differ in their propensity to innovate but not in the drivers of innovation. The authors empirically assess whether this assumption is accurate through a series of econometric estimations and tests. Design/methodology/approach: The data used are derived from the Irish Community Innovation Survey 2004-2006. A series of multivariate probit models are estimated and the resulting coefficients are tested for parameter stability across sectors using likelihood ratio tests. Findings: The results indicate that there is a strong degree of heterogeneity in the drivers of innovation across sectors. The determinants of process, organisational, new to firm and new to market innovation varies across sectors suggesting that the pooling of sectors in an innovation production function may lead to biased inferences. Research limitations/implications: The implications of the results are that innovation policies targeted at stimulating innovation need to be tailored to particular industries. One size fits all policies would seem inappropriate given the large degree of heterogeneity observed across the drivers of innovation in different sectors. Originality/value: The value of this paper is that it provides an empirical test as to whether it is suitable to group sectoral data when estimating innovation production functions. Most papers simply include sectoral dummies, implying that only the propensity to innovate differs across sectors and that the slope of the coefficient estimates are in fact consistent across sectors.

Moral standards of the Scotch-Irish ...

Thesis (A.M.)--University of Chicago (Dept. of Philosophy) 1913.

The Great Irish Famine in history-writing and prose fiction : "the mutual interplay of two narrative genres"

Denna tvärvetenskapliga studie kontextualiserar den skönlitterära framställningen av hungersnöden i Irland i mitten av 1800-talet i förhållande till tre olika faser av irländsk historieskrivning ‒ den nationalistiska, den revisionistiska, och den postrevisionistiska ‒ med syfte att granska i vilken mån prosafiktionen antingen återspeglar eller motsäger historikernas tolkningar. År 1845 drabbades landet av en dittills okänd potatispest som förstörde skörden helt eller delvis under de följande fem åren. Missväxten ledde till utbredd svält och epidemiska sjukdomar som dödade åtminstone en miljon människor, medan ytterligare en och en halv miljon flydde, huvudsakligen till Förenta Staterna, England, och Kanada. I sina försök att hitta en rationell förklaring till hur potatispesten kunde utvecklas till den värsta svältkatastrofen i Europa under modern tid, har historiker påvisat ett antal bidragande faktorer, till exempel överbefolkning, de fattigaste jordlösa småbrukarnas och lantarbetarnas beroende av potatisen som sitt baslivsmedel, underutveckling inom jordbruket, det rådande jordegendomssystemet, och den dåvarande brittiska regeringens misslyckande att tillhandahålla effektiv och tillräcklig nödhjälp. Historiska förklaringar är naturligtvis nödvändiga för att vi skall kunna bilda oss en uppfattning om hungersnödens orsaker och konsekvenser, men svårigheten med att skildra offrens situation i en historiografisk analys baserad på fakta är uppenbar då deras egna vittnesmål till största delen saknas i källmaterialet. Följaktligen finns det en risk att historieskrivningen förmörkar det som onekligen var centrala realiteter för de värst drabbade, nämligen svält, vräkning, sjukdom och död. Här kan skönlitteraturen bidra till att komplettera historien. Genom att fokusera på ett specifikt (fiktivt) samhälle och dess (fiktiva) individer, kan skönlitterära verk ge en inblick i hur hungersnöden inverkade på olika samhällsskikt, vad människorna gjorde för att överleva, hur nöden och fasorna påverkade deras psyke, och vad eller vem de höll ansvariga för katastrofen. Å andra sidan kan denna fokusering innebära att författaren misslyckas med att ge en helhetsbild av hungersnödens enorma omfattning och att redogöra för alla faktorer som orsakade och förlängde den. Paul Ricoeurs teori om samspelet mellan historia och fiktion (the interweaving of history and fiction) är därför ett nyckelbegrepp för att bättre förstå denna traumatiska period i Irlands historia. Avhandlingen omfattar en textanalytisk, komparativ kritik av ett antal historiska och skönlitterära verk. Genom närläsning av dessa texter granskar jag vilka aspekter av hungersnöden (politiska, ekonomiska, sociala) de olika författarna valt att behandla, och på vilket sätt, samt hur deras synvinklar har format tolkningarna i sin helhet. I detta sammanhang tar jag också upp skillnaderna mella fakta och fiktion, och speciellt de etiska problem som är förknippade med skildringen av traumatiska händelser och mänskligt lidande. Samtidigt undersöker jag, med hänvisning till Roger D. Sells kommunikationsteori, huruvida vissa författare anslår en påstridig ton i sina verk och hur detta påverkar dialogen mellan författare och läsare. Med utgångspunkt i Ricoeurs teori argumenterar jag för att historia och fiktion inte bör ses som ömsesidigt antitetiska diskurser i skildringen och tolkningen av det förflutna, och att skönlitteraturen genom fokuseringen på offren, som ofta tenderar att reduceras till statistik i historieskrivningen, kan förmedla en bättre förståelse och en djupare känsla för den mänskliga dimensionen av den tragedi som utspelades under hungeråren.

Effects of Information and Time of Use Pricing on Irish Electricity Demand and Supply

In this dissertation I quantify residential behavior response to interventions designed to reduce electricity demand at different periods of the day. In the first chapter, I examine the effect of information provision coupled with bimonthly billing, monthly billing, and in-home displays, as well as a time-of-use (TOU) pricing scheme to measure consumption over each month of the Irish Consumer Behavior Trial. I find that time-of-use pricing with real time usage information reduces electricity usage up to 8.7 percent during peak times at the start of the trial but the effect decays over the first three months and after three months the in-home display group is indistinguishable from the monthly treatment group. Monthly and bi-monthly billing treatments are not found to be statistically different from another. These findings suggest that increasing billing reports to the monthly level may be more cost effective for electricity generators who wish to decrease expenses and consumption, rather than providing in-home displays. In the following chapter, I examine the response of residential households after exposure to time of use tariffs at different hours of the day. I find that these treatments reduce electricity consumption during peak hours by almost four percent, significantly lowering demand. Within the model, I find evidence of overall conservation in electricity used. In addition, weekday peak reductions appear to carry over to the weekend when peak pricing is not present, suggesting changes in consumer habit. The final chapter of my dissertation imposes a system wide time of use plan to analyze the potential reduction in carbon emissions from load shifting based on the Ireland and Northern Single Electricity Market. I find that CO2 emissions savings are highest during the winter months when load demand is highest and dirtier power plants are scheduled to meet peak demand. TOU pricing allows for shifting in usage from peak usage to off peak usage and this shift in load can be met with cleaner and cheaper generated electricity from imports, high efficiency gas units, and hydro units.

Adapting to change in contemporary Irish and Scottish culture: fiction to film

Abstract available: p. [ii]-[iii].

Landscape and Architecture: A Balance for Fellowship and Contemplation at Dumbarton Oaks

This thesis will explore ideas relating to the engagement of man and nature by promoting the experiences of contemplation and fellowship. The focus will be an urban academic retreat facility to provide an escape from distraction of typical modern urban life. Set within the historic Washington D.C. neighborhood of Georgetown, Dumbarton Oaks is an active academic research institution The Institute is holistically designed; architecture integrated with its surrounding landscape The Institute selects diverse scholars to think, live, and commune within the facility and landscape for up to two years. This thesis will use the existing site, themes, and history of Dumbarton Oaks as a launching point to explore the relationship between architecture, man, and landscape. A proposal to relocate the Fellow’s residences and reorganize the western edge of the site will help reactivate this forgotten piece of the site realize its potential.

A phenomenological study of Irish and Portuguese women’s experiences of receiving family support when studying STEM subjects at technical institutes

Comunicação apresentada na 44th SEFI Conference, 12-­15 September 2016, Tampere, Finland

Plant-mediated effects on microbial diversity in mesocosms of an oligotrophic bog

Globally, peatlands occupy a small portion of terrestrial land area but contain up to one-third of all soil organic carbon. This carbon pool is vulnerable to increased decomposition under projected climate change scenarios but little is known about how plant functional groups will influence microbial communities responsible for regulating carbon cycling processes. Here we examined initial shifts in microbial community structure within two sampling depths under plant functional group manipulations in mesocosms of an oligotrophic bog. Microbial community composition for bacteria and archaea was characterized using targeted 16S rRNA Illumina gene sequencing. We found statistically distinct spatial patterns between the more shallow 10-20 cm sampling depth and the deeper 30-40 cm depth. Significant effects by plant functional groups were found only within the 10-20 cm depth, indicating plant-mediated microbial community shifts respond more quickly near the peat surface. Specifically, the relative abundance of Acidobacteria decreased under ericaceous shrub treatments in the 10-20 cm depth and was replaced by increased abundance of Gammaproteobacteria and Bacteroidetes. In contrast, the sedge rhizosphere continued to be dominated by Acidobacteria but also promoted an increase in the relative recovery of Alphaproteobacteria and Verrucomicrobia. These initial results suggest microbial communities under ericaceous shrubs may be limited by anaerobic soil conditions accompanying high water table conditions, while sedge aerenchyma may be promoting aerobic taxa in the upper peat rhizosphere regardless of ambient soil oxygen limitations.

Influence of Vegetation Removal and Altering Water Levels on CO2 Flux Rates of a Northern Bog

Boreal peatlands contain approximately one third of the global soil carbon and are considered net sinks of atmospheric CO2. Water level position is one of the main regulators of CO2 fluxes in northern peatlands because it controls both the thickness of the aerobic layer in peat and plant communities. However, little is known about the role of different plant functional groups and their possible interaction with changing water level in boreal peatlands with regard to CO2 cycling. Climate change may also accelerate changes in hydrological conditions, changing both aerobic conditions and plant communities. To help answer these questions, this study was conducted at a mesocosm facility in Northern Michigan where the aim was to experimentally study the effects of water levels, plant functional groups (sedges, shrubs and mosses) and the possible interaction of these on the CO2 cycle of a boreal peatland ecosystem. The results indicate that Ericaceous shrubs are important in the boreal peatland CO2 cycle. The removal of these plants decreased ecosystem respiration, gross ecosystem production and net ecosystem exchange rates, whereas removing sedges did not show any significant differences in the flux rates. The water level did not significantly affect the flux rates. The amount of aboveground sedge biomass was higher in the low water level sedge treatment plots compared to the high water level sedge plots, possibly because the lowered water level and the removal of Ericaceae released nutrients for sedges to use up.

"To Hold the World in Contempt": The British Empire, War, and the Irish and Indian Nationalist Press, 1899-1914

The era between the close of the nineteenth century and the onset of the First World War witnessed a marked increase in radical agitation among Indian and Irish nationalists. The most outspoken political leaders of the day founded a series of widely circulated newspapers in India and Ireland, placing these editors in the enviable position of both reporting and creating the news. Nationalist journalists were in the vanguard of those pressing vocally for an independent India and Ireland, and together constituted an increasingly problematic contingent for the British Empire. The advanced-nationalist press in Ireland and the nationalist press in India took the lead in facilitating the exchange of provocative ideas—raising awareness of perceived imperial injustices, offering strategic advice, and cementing international solidarity. Irish and Indian press coverage of Britain’s imperial wars constituted one of the premier weapons in the nationalists’ arsenal, permitting them to build support for their ideology and forward their agenda in a manner both rapid and definitive. Directing their readers’ attention to conflicts overseas proved instructive in how the Empire dealt with those who resisted its policies, and also showcased how it conducted its affairs with its allies. As such, critical press coverage of the Boxer Rebellion, Boer War, Russo-Japanese War, and World War I bred disaffection for the Empire, while attempts by the Empire to suppress the critiques further alienated the public. This dissertation offers the first comparative analysis of the major nationalist press organs in India and Ireland, using the prism of war to illustrate the increasingly persuasive role of the press in promoting resistance to the Empire. It focuses on how the leading Indian and Irish editors not only fostered a nationalist agenda within their own countries, but also worked in concert to construct a global anti-imperialist platform. By highlighting the anti-imperial rhetoric of the nationalist press in India and Ireland and illuminating their strategies for attaining self-government, this study deepens understanding of the seeds of nationalism, making a contribution to comparative imperial scholarship, and demonstrating the power of the media to alter imperial dynamics and effect political change.